Buy §48E Clean Electricity Investment Tax Credits: 2026 Buyer Guide

The §48E clean electricity investment credit (the "ITC") is the main federal credit for new solar, wind, energy storage and other zero-emissions power projects placed in service after 2024. Project owners can sell it for cash under IRC §6418. Veritas focuses on helping C corporations, passive income investors and their CPAs buy §48E credits at a discount to face value.

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What a §48E credit is

• Rate. The base rate is 6% of the qualified investment. It rises to 30% for projects that meet prevailing wage and apprenticeship rules or are under 1 MW AC, and bonus credits can add 10 percentage points each for an energy community and for domestic content (IRS; §48E(a)). See the bonus rules.
• Timing. It is determined for the year the facility or storage is placed in service and claimed on Form 3468 by the owner; a buyer reports the purchased credit on Form 3800.
• Applies to. Facilities and storage placed in service after December 31, 2024 (IRS). Projects that began construction before 2025 can still claim the legacy §48 credit instead: compare them.
• Not both. A facility cannot claim the §48E investment credit and the §45Y production credit (IRS).
• Transferable. The owner may sell the credit once, for cash, to an unrelated buyer under §6418. The buyer gets the credit at less than face value; the price is not deductible.

Where the supply comes from in 2026

Third-party market data from Crux (August 2026) shows the mix shifting toward storage. These are Crux's figures, not Veritas's:

• Standalone battery storage grew to 7% of transfer volume in H1 2026 from 5%, and solar-plus-storage to 12% from 5%.
• Solar was 30% of volume (from 35%) and wind 7.5% (from 23%).
• Crux estimates developers safe-harbored more than 170 GW of wind and solar before the July 4, 2026 deadline. Those projects keep §48E or §45Y eligibility if they are placed in service by about 2030.
• Crux forecasts tax credit supply above $75 billion a year through 2030, with storage and §45X manufacturing credits growing to nearly two-thirds of supply by then.

That is why a buyer who wants a block of credits for a particular tax year often finds more to choose from in §48E than in the narrower credits. Read the side-by-side comparison of §48E with §45X, §45Y, §45Z, §45Q, §45V and legacy §48, including where each is the better fit.

What buyers must weigh

• Five-year recapture. If the property is sold, stops qualifying or is destroyed within five years, part of the credit can be clawed back from the taxpayer who claimed it, which is the buyer (details and protections).
• Foreign-entity rules. Facilities and storage that begin construction after 2025 cannot include material assistance from a prohibited foreign entity (§48E; Notice 2026-15). Crux reports this risk has become the main driver of pricing.
• Wind and solar deadlines. New wind and solar must have begun construction by July 4, 2026 or be placed in service by December 31, 2027 (what to verify).
• Price. Crux put the market average for 2026 ITCs at $0.913 per dollar of credit in H1 2026, below the historical $0.920 to $0.925 range, with legacy §48 credits at a premium (pricing guide).
• Your own tax capacity. A credit only helps up to what you can use: the §38(c) limit for C corporations, the passive-activity rules for individuals.

Who buys §48E credits

How a §48E purchase works

1. Size your capacity with your CPA: tax year, amount, active or passive.
2. Get indicative offers for §48E credits matched to that year.
3. Run diligence on the project, seller and foreign-entity position.
4. Sign a transfer agreement with indemnity and, where appropriate, insurance (key terms).
5. Pay cash and report the credit on Form 3800 with the transfer election statement.

Other credits: if you came here looking at §45X, the §45Y production credit or another transferable credit, we cover them honestly and show when §48E is, and is not, the better match. Overview of the credit itself: the clean energy ITC explained.

Educational information only, not tax, legal or investment advice, and no outcome is promised. Rules and figures were checked against the cited sources on October 29, 2026; they change, so confirm with your CPA and counsel before acting. Market figures are third-party data and are not Veritas quotes. See our disclaimer.